When hunting with a group or in a club, you may find yourself in a massive group of other hunters' dogs hunting a smaller area. Many Garmin devices operating in a single location can cause interference and inhibit optimum tracking if not addressed. If you listen to our podcast, you may have heard Buddy and Jason discussing this in one of their "Tech Tips" episodes. Before collaring up your dogs to release multiple packs at once, it is important to coordinate I.D. codes with other party members in order to prevent the devices from interfering with one another.
There are five MURS radio frequencies that Garmin Astro/Alpha units use to operate:
- 151.820 MHz = Astro 220, 320 (Communication Settings 00 – 09) = Alpha 200i, Alpha 100, Astro 430 (Channel 1)
- 151.880 MHz = Astro 220, 320 (Communication Settings 10 – 19) = Alpha 200i, Alpha 100, Astro 430 (Channel 2)
- 151.940 MHz = Astro 220, 320 (Communication Settings 20 – 29) = Alpha 200i, Alpha 100, Astro 430 (Channel 3)
- 154.570 MHz = Astro 220, 320 (Communication Settings 30 – 39) = Alpha 200i, Alpha 100, Astro 430 (Channel 4)
- 154.600 MHz = Astro 220, 320 (Communication Settings 40 – 49) = Alpha 200i, Alpha 100, Astro 430 (Channel 5)
Therefore, I.D. codes will look something like this in your Dog List:
When picking an I.D. code, pay special attention to the last number in the sequence. This will be the radio sub-channel on your dog's collar that your handheld will be listening for when reporting the device's GPS location. It is important that this last number varies from other collars in the area, as having the same channel number will likely cause interference with one or more devices.
Let's say I'm hunting with a buddy. My dog's TT15 or T5 collar is set to 1-17, and his dog's collar is set to 3-17. one of us will need to change our collar I.D. to track both dogs at the same time properly. One of our handheld devices will likely prompt us with an error message to change the ID number automatically.
The following is a potential setup for running 50-100 dogs in the field using an Alpha or Astro system (10 dogs each for 5 Astro 320 units or 20 dogs each on 5 Alpha 100 units). Remember, you may not have control of the environment you'll be hunting, especially during a field trial, so manually inputting I.D. numbers before dropping the tailgate may not cut down on interference during a massive competition with dogs crisscrossing each others' paths all over the woods. However, if you have the option to coordinate with the other hunters in your party before a chase, you can minimize your chance of overlapping ID codes and losing reception on your dogs.
100-dog Alpha/430 setup
| Alpha 1 | Alpha 2 | Alpha 3 | Alpha 4 | Alpha 5 |
| 1-0 | 1-1 | 1-2 | 1-3 | 1-4 |
| 1-5 | 1-6 | 1-7 | 1-8 | 1-9 |
| 1-10 | 1-11 | 1-12 | 1-13 | 1-14 |
| 1-15 | 1-16 | 1-17 | 1-18 | 1-19 |
| 2-1 | 2-2 | 2-3 | 2-4 | 2-5 |
| 2-6 | 2-7 | 2-8 | 2-9 | 2-10 |
| 2-11 | 2-12 | 2-13 | 2-14 | 2-15 |
| 2-16 | 2-17 | 2-18 | 2-19 | 2-0 |
| 3-2 | 3-3 | 3-4 | 3-5 | 3-6 |
| 3-7 | 3-8 | 3-9 | 3-10 | 3-11 |
| 3-12 | 3-13 | 3-14 | 3-15 | 3-16 |
| 3-17 | 3-18 | 3-19 | 3-0 | 3-1 |
| 4-3 | 4-4 | 4-5 | 4-6 | 4-7 |
| 4-8 | 4-9 | 4-10 | 4-11 | 4-12 |
| 4-13 | 4-14 | 4-15 | 4-16 | 4-17 |
| 4-18 | 4-19 | 4-0 | 4-1 | 4-2 |
| 5-4 | 5-5 | 5-6 | 5-7 | 5-8 |
| 5-9 | 5-10 | 5-11 | 5-12 | 5-13 |
| 5-14 | 5-15 | 5-16 | 5-17 | 5-18 |
| 5-19 | 5-0 | 5-1 | 5-2 | 5-3 |
50-Dog Astro 320 setup
| Astro 1 | Astro 2 | Astro 3 | Astro 4 | Astro 5 |
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 22 | 43 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
| 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 |
| 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 |
| 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 |
| 49 | 10 | 21 | 32 | 23 |
Feel free to download this handy .pdf file of the table above for a reference guide, or print it off and keep it in your truck for use in the field.
Remember, you can coordinate ID codes with other hunters beforehand and add their track or train codes to your handheld prior to entering the field. You and your buddies can spend less time at the truck arguing over who gets the lucky I.D. numbers, and be ready to drop the tailgate and run from the moment you meet up.